NEWARK — The newly formed Key Club at North Star Academy Washington Park High School joined Key Clubs from Cedar Grove Academy in Portmore, Saint Catherine, and Excelsior High School in Kingston, Jamaica, for an international interclub meeting held by Google Meet on Friday, November 6, at 6:00 p.m.
The interclub was arranged by Mackayla Binns, President of the Washington Park High School Key Club, who chartered the club with 51 charter members. The club is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of West Orange.
Kiwanis leaders from New Jersey and around the world joined the students on the call, including Kiwanis International President Hope Markes, Immediate Past Kiwanis International President Michael Mulhaul, New Jersey District Governor Michael Murray, and Immediate Past New Jersey District Governor Frank Cahill.
Markes, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, took office as President of Kiwanis International on October 1. She is the first Black woman and the first Caribbean national to lead the 110-year-old organization. A charter member and one of the founders of the Kiwanis Club of Hopewell in Hanover, Jamaica, she previously served as Governor of the Eastern Canada and Caribbean District, which covers 17 countries.
Binns opened the meeting with an icebreaker, leading the students in a game of Kahoot. The clubs then held a question-and-answer session, with students from all three schools trading questions with one another and with the Kiwanis leaders on the call.
Key Club is the oldest and largest service program for high school students in the world. Founded on May 7, 1925, at Sacramento High School in Sacramento, California, it has grown to more than 229,000 members in clubs around the world, including the Caribbean. Key Club is part of the Kiwanis International family of youth programs, and most clubs are sponsored by a local Kiwanis club, which provides adult advisors, guidance and support.
Each Key Club is student-led, with members electing their own officers and choosing the service projects they take on in their schools and communities. The organization is built on four core values: caring, character building, inclusiveness and leadership. Interclub meetings like this one give clubs the opportunity to share ideas, learn about one another’s service projects, and build friendships across schools and countries.
The meeting also reflected the spirit of “Connect the K’s,” the effort to bring together every branch of the Kiwanis family — K-Kids in elementary school, Builders Club in middle school, Key Club in high school, Circle K in college, Aktion Club for adults living with disabilities, and Kiwanis clubs themselves. Linking students with one another and with Kiwanis leaders helps young members see how their service can continue from one stage of life to the next, and Friday’s call connected Key Club members with Kiwanis leaders at both the district and international levels.
In New Jersey, the New Jersey District of Key Club International was established in 1947 and today includes 10,621 members in 145 clubs across 21 divisions, now including the newly formed Washington Park High School Key Club.
Locally, both Parsippany High School and Parsippany Hills High School have Key Clubs, giving students in Parsippany the same opportunity to lead, serve their community and connect with Key Club members across New Jersey and around the world.
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